They knew that Louise Mallard had a weak heart. So they broke the bad news gently.
Her husband, Brently, was dead.
"There was a train accident, Louise," said her sister Josephine, quietly.
Her husband's friend, Richards, brought the news, but Josephine told the story. She
spoke in broken sentences.
"Richards...was at the newspaper office. News of the accident came. Louise... Louise,
Brently's name was on the list. Brently... was killed, Louise."
Louise did not hear the story calmly, like some women would. She could not close her
mind or her heart to the news. Like a sudden storm, her tears broke out. She cried,
at once, loudly in her sister's arms. Then,just as suddenly, the tears stopped. She
went to her room alone. She would not let anyone follow her.
In front of the window stood a large, comfortable armchair. Into this she sank and
looked out of the window. She was physically exhausted after her tears. Her body felt
cold; her mind and heart were empty.
Outside her window she could see the trees. The air smelled like spring rain. She
could hear someone singing far away. Birds sang near the house. Blue sky showed between
the clouds. She rested. She sat quietly, but a few weak tears still fell. She was young,
with a fair, calm face that showed a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare
in her eyes. She looked out of the window at the blue sky. She was not thinking, or
seeing. She was waiting.
There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it with fear. What was it? She
did not know. It was too subtle to name. But she felt it creeping out of the sky. It was
reaching her through the sound, the smell, the color that filled the air.
Slowly she became excited. Her breath came fast; her heart beat faster. She beginging
to recognize the thing that was approaching to take her. She tried to beat it back with
her will, but failed. Her mind was as weak as her two small white hands. When she stopped
fighting against it, a little word broke from her lips.
"Free," she whispered. "Free,free,free!" The dull stare and look of fear went from her
eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her heart beat fast, and the blood warmed and relaxed
every inch of her body. A sudden feeling of joy held her.
She did not ask if her joy was wrong. She saw her freedom clearly and could not stop to
think of smaller things.
She knew that she would weep again when she saw her husband's body. The kind hands, now
and dead and still. The loving face, now fixed and gray. But she looked into the future
and saw many long years to come that would belong to her alone. And now she opened and
spread her arms out to those years in welcome.
There would be no one else to live for during those years. She would live for herself
alone. There would be no powerful will bending hers. Men and women always believe they
can tell others what to do and how to think. Suddenly Louise understood that this was wrong
and that she could break away and be free of it.
And yet, she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did love mean now? Now she
understood that freedom is stronger than love.
"Free! Body and soul free!" She kept whispering.
Her sister Josephine was waiting outside the door.
"Please open the door," Josephine cried." You will make yourself sick. What are you doing
in there, Louise? Please, please, let me in!"
"Go away. I am not making myself sick." No, she was drinking in life through that open window.
She thought joyfully of all those days before her. Spring days, summer days. All kinds of
days that would be her own. She began to hope life would be long. It was only yesterday that
life seemed so long!
After a while she got up and opened the door. Her eyes were bright; her cheeks were red. She
didn't know how strong and well she looked--so full of joy. They went downstairs, where
Richards was waiting.
Someone was opening the door. It was Brently Mallard, who entered, looking dirty and tired,
carring a suitcase and an umbrella. He was not killed in the accident. He didn't even know
there had been one. He stood surprised at Josephine's sudden cry. He didn't understand why
Richards moved suddenly between them, to hide Louise from her husband.
But Richards was too late.
When the doctors came, they said she had died of heart disease-- of joy that kills.